Saturday, April 9, 2011

TROUBLED JAPANESE NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

A possible breach at Japan's troubled nuclear plant has escalated the crisis anew,two full weeks after an earthquake and tsunami first compromised the facility.The development suggested that radioactive contamination may be worse thanfirst thought, with tainted groundwater the most likely consequence.Japanese leaders defended their decision not to evacuate people from a widerarea around the plant, insisting that they are safe if they stay indoors. Butofficials said that residents may want to voluntarily move to areas with betterfacilities, since supplies in the tsunami-devastated region are running short. Theescalation in the nuclear plant crisis came as the death toll from the quake andtsunami passed 10,000. Across the battered northeast coast, hundreds ofthousands of people whose homes were destroyed still have no power, no hotmeals and, in many cases, no showers for two weeks.The uncertain nuclear situation delayed efforts to stop the overheated FukushimaDai-ichi nuclear plant from leaking dangerous radiation. Work was under way tillSaturday to inject fresh water into one unit, said Hidehiko Nishiyama, aspokesman for Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, or NISA, amidconcerns about dumping large amounts of potentially corrosive seawater onto thereactors. Low levels of radiation have been seeping out since the March 11 quakeand tsunami knocked out the plant's cooling system, but a breach could mean amuch larger release of contaminants. The most likely consequence would becontamination of the groundwater. "The situation today at the Fukushima Dai-ichipower plant is still very grave and serious. We must remain vigilant," a somberPrime Minister Naoto Kan said. "We are not in a position where we can beoptimistic.We must treat every development with the utmost care."The possible breach in the plant's Unit 3 might be a crack or a hole in thestainless steel chamber of the reactor core or in the spent fuel pool that's linedwith several feet of reinforced concrete. The temperature and pressure inside thecore, which holds the fuel rods, remained stable and was far lower than whatwould further melt the core. Suspicions of a possible breach were raised whentwo workers suffered skin burns after wading into water 10,000 times moreradioactive than levels normally found in water in or around a reactor, NISA said.Water with equally high radiation levels was found in the Unit 1 reactor building,Tokyo Electric Power Co. officials said.Water was also discovered in Units 2 and 4, and the company said that it suspectsthat, too, is radioactive. Officials acknowledged that the presence of water woulddelay work inside the plant. Radioactivity in seawater just outside one unit testedsome 1,250 times higher than normal, probably from both airborne radiation

released from the reactors and contaminated water leaked into the sea,Nishiyama said.But the amount posed no immediate health risk. Plant officials and governmentregulators say that they don't know the source of the radioactive waterdiscovered at units 1 and 3 of the six-unit complex. It could have come from aleaking reactor core, associated pipes or a spent fuel pool. Or it may be the resultof overfilling the pools with emergency cooling water.The prime minister apologized to farmers and business owners for the toll theradiation has had on their livelihoods: Several countries have halted some foodimports from areas near the plant after elevated levels of radiation were found inraw milk, sea water and 11 kinds of vegetables, including broccoli, cauliflower andturnips.Elevated levels of radiation have turned up elsewhere, including the tap water inseveral areas of Japan. In Tokyo, tap water showed radiation levels two timeshigher than the government standard for infants, who are particularly vulnerableto cancer-causing radioactive iodine, officials said. The scare caused a run onbottled water in the capital, and Tokyo municipal officials are distributing it tofamilies with babies. The nuclear crisis has compounded the challenges faced by anation already saddled with a humanitarian disaster.Much of the frigid northeast remains a scene of despair and devastation, withJapan struggling to feed and house hundreds of thousands of homeless survivors,clear away debris and bury the dead. "It's still like I'm in a dream," said TomohikoAbe, a 45-year-old machinist who was in the devastated coastal town of Onagawatrying to salvage any belongings he could from his ruined car. "People say it's likea movie, but it's been worse than any movie I've ever seen." The official deathtoll stood at 10,151, with more than 17,000 listed as missing, police said. Withthe cleanup and recovery operations continuing, the final number of dead wasexpected to surpass 18,000. Officials have evacuated residents within 12 miles(20 kilometers) of the plant and advised those up to 19 miles (30 kilometers)away to stay indoors to minimize exposure.The U.S. has recommended that people stay 50 miles (80 kilometers) away fromthe plant. Government spokesman Yukio Edano insisted that people living 12 to20 miles (20 to 30 kilometers) from the plant should still be safe from radiation aslong as they stay indoors. But since supplies are not being delivered to the areafast enough, he said that it may be better for residents to voluntarily evacuate toplaces with better facilities. "If the current situation is protracted and worsens,then we will not deny the possibility of (mandatory) evacuation," he said.One Fukushima government official said that some commercial trucks wererefusing to enter the area because of radiation fears, resulting in a shortage of

goods. "We are not ordering people to leave. But we have told residents that wewill help you leave voluntarily," Takeshi Ishimoto said.